Alex Jones says he spoke to Jan. 6 committee and pleaded the Fifth 'almost 100 times'

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones said on his radio show Tuesday that he was deposed by the House Jan. 6 committee and that he exercised his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination "almost 100 times."

Jones said he testified remotely Monday, "and it was extremely interesting, to say the least." He said the committee lawyers who questioned him were "polite, but they were dogged."

"The questions were overall pretty reasonable. And I wanted to answer the questions. But at the same time, it's a good thing I didn't, because I'm the type that tries to answer things correctly, even if I don't know all the answers, and they can then kind of claim that's perjury" he said.

Jones said his lawyer "told me almost 100 times today during the interrogation, 'On advice of counsel I am asserting my Fifth Amendment right to remain silent."

"And the media tells you that's because you're guilty or because you're going to incriminate yourself, but it's also just because it can be used to try to incriminate you and twist something against you," he said.

In a letter to Jones last month, the committee's chair, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the committee had evidence that Jones was involved in planning and funding the rally at the Ellipse immediately before the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and that he was supposed to have led rallygoers to the Capitol that day. Thompson also noted that Jones heavily promoted the rally on his shows, including referring to then-President Donald Trump's tweet that the rally would be "wild" and "one of the most historic events in American history."

Jones said on his show after the riot that the White House had asked him ahead of Jan. 6 to “lead the march” to the Capitol. He said Tuesday that his "White House connection" was Caroline Wren, a Republican operative and fundraiser who helped organize the rally but did not actually work for the White House.

"She was there that day behind the stage with the Trumps and the family," Jones said.

He added that the committee was already aware of his interactions with Wren because "they have everything that's already on my phones."

"I saw my text messages to Caroline Wren and Cindy Chafian and some of the event organizers right there. So they already have everything, and they already know I didn't do anything," he said. Wren and Chafian were issued subpoenas by the committee last year.

Despite his calls to action before the rally, Jones was seen on video outside the Capitol during the riot urging people not to be violent.

"By then, we learned that there were a bunch of people inside the Capitol, and that was so stupid and so dumb, and we do not support that. I didn't support it that day. I don't support it now," he said Tuesday.

Jones' appearance before the committee was a bit of surprise, because he has a lawsuit pending in federal court in Washington challenging its authority to subpoena him.

Jones filed the suit about a month after an unrelated court defeat. In November, a judge found him liable for damages in defamation suits brought by the parents of children who were killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut in 2012. Jones had claimed that the shooting was a "giant hoax."